Comparing Topeka's Skate Parks: Which Park is Right for You

By Cameron Manthe

The City of Topeka currently has a selection of three different skate parks to choose from. These facilities range in size and features they offer. Here I will detail them to help you decide which park seems most intriguing.

Mouse Trap Skate Park:

Mouse Trap Skate Park is commonly referred to as “Old Park” or “Oakland Skate Park” due to it being the oldest skate park offered in Topeka and its location in the Oakland neighborhood. Built in 2000, this park offers many obstacles within its 10,000 square foot area. It is equipped with sufficient lights for when your sessions last past sundown. 

From personal experience, this is the preferred skate park for most people in Topeka and can be rather packed at times. This park is ideal for skaters of all experience levels as it has plenty of flat ground and smaller obstacles as well as bigger ramps to use.

Rip-On Skate Park:

View of Rip-On Skate Park
Photo by Cameron Manthe

Rip-On Skate Park also has many nicknames you may come across. These include "New Park", "Washburn Skate Park" and "Shunga Skate Park". This skate park, built in 2004, is right down the street from Washburn University located in Shunga Glenn Park. This 9,310 square foot park features many large ramps and a big bowl section in addition to some handrails, ledges and a wall ride. 

I would not recommend this park to absolute beginners as the ramps are decently steep and meet the ground rather harshly for riding on a skateboard. This combined with the high speed nature of the park due to the size of the ramps makes it more challenging if you are just starting out. 

There is also not very much flat space that is out of the way to roll around on, nor any free standing ledges or rails to practice basic tricks. This park has lights, however, they are not meant to light the park after dark for skating and are extremely dim so make sure to get your session in before sundown.

Chesney Skate Park:

Chesney Skate Park Boardslide
Gif by Cameron Manthe

As far as I'm aware there are no nicknames for this skate park. Located in the Central Park neighborhood, this 5,000 square foot park offers steel ramps and plenty of flat ground to roll around on.

This is Topeka's newest addition to their catalog of skate parks as it was opened in 2008. The ramps are mellow and many are no bigger than a few feet tall. 

While being fairly small I believe it is a good place for beginners as it is usually not busy and offers many obstacles that are great for developing your tricks and comfort level. The city advertises this park as having lights for night, but I personally cannot confirm if they still come on or not. I will explore this in a later post highlighting this park.

No matter which park you choose to visit, you are sure to have a good time and maybe even meet some new people. Don't worry too much about skill level as each park has something for everyone, some just more than others. My first time at a skate park was at Rip-On Skate Park because it was the closest to where I lived and I had no experience with ramps other than a small plastic ramp in my driveway. So with this in mind feel free to go explore any and all of these wonderful facilities.

Sources:

Shawnee County Parks and Rec

https://parks.snco.us/91/Skate-Parks

Google Maps

https://maps.app.goo.gl/p5FTNqiAzEXfKMnj7

https://maps.app.goo.gl/qPDz677N4C7knsvu7

https://maps.app.goo.gl/HusnVejTSHsDpyqv9

Photo and Gif by Cameron Manthe